While we here at LMB appreciate any mainstream attention to “touring bands,” this ‘no album’ angle really jumped out at me. Why is it such a big deal that Pearl Jam — a long-time ‘road warrior’ live band — is touring without releasing an album? Why has this “norm” completely perpetuated the mainstream music industry? Can’t Pearl Jam just tour because they’re a great live band?

I admit that this is a bit of a small gripe, and it is also an angle even I will often include here at LMB. I’m sure that the Billboard editors (or headline writers) were just looking for another angle with which to cover a Pearl Jam tour. But, in a day where it seems like it is finally becoming more mainstream knowledge that artists can often be more successful by touring, do we really need this constant implication that a band has to release an album and then go on tour in support of that album?

What do you think?